Tape of an interview with Smith conducted by Brenda K. Shelton, November 3, 1978. Concerns her background, the War Bond drive of the 1940s, and activities of the Joint Charities and the Guidance Center of Buffalo.

Relationship of the Cary, Rumsey and Smith families;
their connection with UB,
Her mother's community activities; Charity Organization
Society; father in lumber business; tradition
of community service in mother's family goes back
to Maria Love,
Childhood! education at the Franklin School; decision
to go to Vassar College and major in Economics. (Class of •28)
Involvement with Joint Charities; origins of the
Guidance Canter of Buffalo which she served as
President for many years,
Impact of depression on private agencies,
Connection of people from UB with private agencies;
School of Social w·ork; Dean Kimball of the Medical
School; Cornelia Allen.
Ran Women's Division of War Bond Drives during World
War II.

Interviewer's Observations:

Miss Smith lives in an apartment with her unmarried
sister, Before we began the interview, she showed me the
fa.mily portraits hanging on the walls in most of the rooms,
They cover many generations of the Rumsey, Cary, and Smith
families, and lVIiss Smith can trace in detail the relationships
between them all.
Miss Smith, both when I called to make an appointment
and prior to the interview, expressed concern that she would
be unable to contribute much, She seemed to relax a little
as she talked about her family and her community activities,
but she became very nervous after I changed the tape and
asked about her experiences as a member of the UB Council,
Maybe I was nervous, too, but whatever the reason, the second
side did not record, In the fiftean missing minutes, she
responded very briefly to questions about her role an the
Council, her memories of the people she served with and of
those members of the administration and faculty whom she
met, and her views on the merger. She could remember few
individuals on the Council, and mentioned onlY Dr, Perry,
Dr, Silverman and Dr. Thorn from the University, She
opposed the merger, and felt the University was forced into
it by the State, but she had nothing to say about the
views or the actions of the Council on the matter, She
said that she reall~ did not ever understand why she was
asked to serve on the Council in the first place, But she
also made clear that she, like members of her family before
her, regarded UB as h~~ university, that she had always been
proud of it and felt a sense of obligation toward it, She
made the comment as I was leaving that somehow, since the
move to Amherst (which she opposed), she no longer felt that
it was Buffalo's university,